September 12 to 18, 2010

September 12 to 18, 2010


Tuesday ; Today was a lovely fall day, perfect “June 18” weather. After seven weeks it appears as if the Tweddle Creek fire is finally out. There are no more wisps of smoke rising off the mountain. But … I’ve been wrong before ! Today was Joanne’s first day off after working for eight straight days. And she was sick with a cold for the last few. She felt a bit better this morning, but faded rapidly this afternoon. Today I completed the installation of a new thermostat in the trailer, a project that I have been working on for a few days. Well done, Daniel ! I was not able to buy an identical replacement, so had to install a “compatible” substitute. Right ! Good luck with that ! Seven wires coming out of the wall, six of them connected to the old thermostat, eight terminals on the new thermostat, only four wires needed to be connected on the new thermostat ! ! ! Lots of Internet research, a couple of phone calls to the RV dealer that sold me the “compatible” substitute, and a bit of trial and error, with the hope that my trial and error would not result in an error that “fried” the electronics of the thermostat ! I also completed my research into available travel medical insurers, policies, and options, an annual exercise that doesn’t seem to get any easier as the years go by.

Saturday ; OOOOOWWWWW ! For the last twelve days I have been applying Efudex to my nose. Efudex is a “chemical peel” type of cream used to treat skin cancers like Basal Cell Carcinoma and Squamous Cell Carcinoma and pre-cancerous sun damaged skin lesions like Actinic Keratosis. Efudex “finds” damaged skin and slowly “burns” it. I thought I had just one small spot of Actinic Keratosis on my nose, but noooooo … ! ! ! My entire nose is one huge raw wound, especially where my eyeglass nose pads sit ! It hurts like hell to wear my glasses, which I have to do most of the time if I want to see anything ! I knew that falling asleep on that beach in Cuba about fifteen years ago was going to come back to haunt me !

There has been a bit of an influx of pack rats in our area this fall. There is “evidence” of a pack rat in the small space between our storage shed and the rock wall. I use that space to store some pieces of lumber and other stuff. I don’t want a pack rat setting up “home” in our storage shed for the winter. Yesterday I bought a rat trap in Penticton. This morning the trap was sprung, the bait was gone, but … no pack rat in the trap. HMPH !

Joanne is still suffering with a cold, although the worst has passed.

DSK